Elected in May 2022, Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud believes that the military approach has become insufficient to overcome these extremist fighters, and says he is open to alternatives, including “talks” at the appropriate time. He made the remarks this week during a trip to Turkey.
With our regional correspondent in Nairobi, Florence Morice
The Somali president considers that opening talks with the shebabs today would be premature: We are not currently in a position to negotiate. » But he said, “we will, at the right time. »
With these remarks, unusual in Somalia, Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud therefore opens a breach in the strategy pursued for fifteen years against the Islamist Shebabs. The Head of State considers that this essentially military strategy has shown its limits, because the Shebabs have known ” adapt to it “, so he says, for example, “ that even if their facilities are destroyed, they have the ability to rebuild them “.
In fact, the progress made on the ground over the past ten years by the Somali army and the forces of the African Union has been very limited. The influence of the Shebabs, especially economic, has even increased overall in areas that are not directly under their control.
In addition to possible talks, Somalia’s head of state also explains that more needs to be done to tackle the financial flows of Shebabs. Currently, according to the latest report from the UN experts for Somalia, the group finances itself mainly through extortion and taxation by routinely using the Somali banking system to deposit and store funds, as well as the transfer of money via mobile phone.